West Bengal

Calcutta is the capital of west Bengal .it is the largest city of India in population.it is on the eastern bank of the river hugli. The famous howrah bridge is on this river . it connects howrah with Calcutta .although Calcutta is about 150 kilometres from the sea ,yet it is an important seaport .this is because the hugli river is so deep and wide that ocean-going ships are able to safely sail in it .the Victoria memorial is one of the most beautiful building in the city. The national library,planetarium and the zoo are also worth visiting.calcutta is the only city in India to have underground railway .it is called the ‘metro railway ‘.it is very enjoyable to travel by the metro .calcutta is also famous for industries like textiles ,automobiles ,paper ,rubber leather goods ,jute goods and drugs.

From orissa when we travel northward ,we reach west Bengal .earlier there was east Bengal as well . now it is a separate country called Bangladesh .west Bengal extends northwards from the delta of the ganga ,up to the Himalayas .it has boarders with Nepal ,Bhutan and Bangladesh .orissa,bihar ,sikkim and assam are its neighbouring states .to the south of west Bengal is the bay of Bengal.

The entire state is an evergreen land .it has a variety of land surface .in its northern part are the high Himalayas.the slopes of these mountains are covered with thick forests of pine and bamboo. These forests are very rich in wildlife .elephants ,leopards and rhinoceroses can be easily seen .

On most hill slopes, one finds large tea gardens .darjiling, the most famous hill-station of west Bengal,lies in these hills .from here you can see the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas.darjiling is also famous for its high quality tea.

The southernmost parts are known as the delta region .most of the land of the delta region is marshy .it is covered with sundari tree forests calledthe sunderbans.these forests supply large quantities of wood and timber .the famous royal Bengal tiger is found here.

The rest of the state is largely a vast fertile plain .the ganga and its tributaries ,the damodar ,mayurakshi ,ajay,kasai and the hugli provide water to it.like all coastal states,rice is the major crop of west Bengal as well .it is the biggest producer of jute in India.

Beside farming ,fishing is also an important occupation of the people .the main food of these people is rice .fish is an essential part of their food .a small tank called pukur is found in every village .it provides water to the people of the village .the huts in the village are centred round the pukur .the huts have heavily thatched sloping roofs. The edges of the roofs are trimmed down on all sides,so as to protect the people from the heavy rainfall of these regions .the climate of west Bengal is warm and wet.

The chota nagpur plateau extends in to western parts of west Bengal .therefore ,these region are also very rich in minerals .ranigang has the richest coal-mines in India .iron –ore and copper are the other minerals found here .

Climate of West Bengal

West Bengal has a tropical climate. The plains are hot except during the short winter season. The mountanious region in the north is cold. Humidity is high because of the altitude. There are vaguely six seasons - Spring,Summer,the rainy,Autumn,mild Winter and severe Winter. The hot season lasts from mid-March to mid-June,with the day temperature ranging from 38o C to 45 C in different parts of the state. Winter lasts about three months,is mild over the plains,the average minimum temperature not falling 15 C.

Tourism in West Bengal

Sunderbans , Jaldapara Sanctuary , Bakkhali , Shantiniketan , Vishnupur , Darjeeling , Sagardwip (Sagar Island) , Raijang Bird Sanctuary , Plassey , Kurseeong , Kalimpong , Durgapur, Buxa Tiger Reserve , Digha

Festival of West Bengal

The main festival of Bengalis is durga puja .the puja celebrations last for several days . on the last day images of durga are taken out in a procession to a nearby river for immersion.

Industrial Town Of West Bengal

There are several industrial towns in west Bengal .durgapur has a steel plant .at chittaranjan,railway engines are made .haldia has a big oil refinery .calcutta is the largest jute manufactureing centre in the world .asansol ,kharagpur,burdwan are the other important towns of west Bengal.

Dresses Of West Bengal

The people wear simple clothses .they wear dhoti with loose kurta .the women wear sarees with broad coloured borders.

Languages of west Bengal

The peopleof west Bengal are called Bengalis.they speak the bangle language .both our national anthem and our national song are in bangla .the national anthem was composed by rabindranath tagore and the nationalsong by bankim Chandra chatterji.the Bengalis are very fond of music,dance,art and literature .shanti miketan, is a famous place for these arts .it eas founded by rabindranath tagore.it is now a famous university called vishwa bharati.

Districts of West Bengal